My husband and I will be moving apartments soon and could use some help thinking through the cleaning/uncluttering, packing and unpacking process. The new apartment will be close to the same size as the old one (possibly a little smaller, depending on which one comes through), but our current place is extremely cluttered with a lot of misused space and even boxes from our last move that we have never even touched (in 3 years — I know, I know — you’re going to tell me to get rid of them without even looking in them!). We are looking forward to starting fresh in a new place and doing some necessary uncluttering in the process, but we don’t want to delude ourselves that it will be an easy process, as we both have clutterbug and procrastination tendencies. What tips do you have that might help us in the process of decluttering and packing up our old place and getting an uncluttered start in the new place??

I don’t know who thought it was a good idea to tell people to get rid of unopened boxes, but it’s some of the worst advice I’ve ever heard. And, I’ve surprisingly heard it a great deal. When I was going through my major uncluttering project, I became fed up with the process and tossed out a number of boxes I hadn’t opened since my move. Inside those boxes were my social security card, birth certificate, and my passport. Throwing out those boxes was a huge mistake and the paperwork was a hassle to replace! One thing you can be sure of is that I will never tell you to blindly get rid of unopened boxes. I don’t wish those repercussions on anyone.

My advice to you is to unclutter twice. It sounds like a lot of work, and I won’t lie to you, it is. However, you will be so amazed by the results that your hard work will be worth it. You will love your new place and really enjoy living in it.

Start by sitting down with your husband and mapping out the life you want in your new space. This vision will be your motivation as you go through this uncluttering process.

The first wave of uncluttering will come when you’re packing up your things. Start by packing up those objects that you won’t need over the next couple months — winter clothing (assuming you’re in the northern hemisphere), cold-weather supplies, and holiday decorations (if you have such things). Ask yourself: 1. Did I use this in the past six months (or however often you are expected to use it)? 2. Do I plan to use it next winter (or whenever you would customarily use it next)? 3. Do I love it enough to go through the hassle of moving it? 4. Does it pass the red velvet rope test? 5. Does it reflect the remarkable life my husband and I desire?

At this point, get rid of anything that doesn’t meet all five of these criteria.

Label boxes clearly with the room where they’ll be stored and the contents of the box. Use smaller boxes instead of co-mingling contents that will be stored in different rooms. A label on a box might say: “Front Closet — Winter Coats” or “Basement Storage — Christmas Decorations.”

As you continue to pack your boxes, work in a way so that the things you use every day are the last to be boxed and loaded into a moving van. This way, they’ll be the first to be unloaded and unboxed when you move into your new space.

The second wave of uncluttering will come when you’re unpacking your things. As you’re putting things away, remember that everything you own must have a space (“a place for everything, and everything in its place”). Anything without a proper space will need to go.

A great tip I picked up a few years ago is that as you’re unpacking, be sure to flatten every piece of newspaper and box that you used. This way, you’re guaranteed not to miss anything while unpacking and it makes recycling or selling these materials simple.

Remember, too, that unpacking isn’t a race. Give yourself time to make informed decisions about your things. Set up your bed, kitchen, and bathroom first and then work out from there. Agree to unpack 10 boxes a night (or more) until you’re all moved into your new place. I actually envy your situation a little — you’re going to have a wonderfully uncluttered home when you’re finished!

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33 Comments for “Ask Unclutterer: A successful move”

For our last move, the fact that we were in a condo with no basement to stash unopened boxes forced us to just get on with it and open all our boxes. It was a great feeling to have it all done so quickly. I must say that it did help immensely that we started to purge our belongings weeks in advance, had yard sales and ended up just moving what we wanted & needed.

What a great question! Reading the answer a thought occurred to me. Instead of asking what you’re willing to get rid of, what if you ask yourself what you want to keep? To put it differently, assume that you’re getting rid of everything and make yourself justify keeping it. Then let us know if it works, OK? Because I don’t know if this is a brilliant idea or a really stupid one.

Allow me to add to Erin’s box labeling suggestions. I recommend not only labeling box by room and content but if possibly can, label on all sides and the top. Then no one needs to handle the box multiple times looking to see what’s in it. It’s more work up front but saves you money on the movers (if they charge by the hour) and aggravation in your new place.

Instead of hand-writing the room, print a lot of labels with each room name. It’ll save lots of time you can use to label each side instead. I don’t recommend the preprinted label packs at U-Haul. They’re expensive, don’t contain many labels, and you have to go with the printer’s idea of room names.

Also print “fragile” stickers, preferably in red. And most definitely label each side of a box of fragile items. Don’t ask me how I know.

Then make a one page sign labeling each room in your new place, to match the room names on the boxes. The movers will know exactly where to put your stuff without having to ask you.

You might want to let the movers pack your breakables, like framed pictures. Most movers won’t insure against breakage unless they’ve done the packing. Speaking of insurance, there’s a different between insurance that pays you the value of a broken item and that pays to buy a new one. The first can be a lot less money than the second.

To save on cleaning at your new place don’t use newspapers. Use newsprint instead. Newspapers shed ink onto your stuff; newsprint is blank. (This, alas, conflicts with saving money and reusing, though.)

If you want a smooth move rather than an inexpensive one, minimize the number of different box sizes you use. Similar size boxes stack and move more easily. Also, smaller boxes are easier to sort and organize, and easier to lift. I use the large, heavily reinforced kitchen boxes when I move but there’s a price – I can get 120 lbs of stuff in one!

We’ve moved seven times cross cournty, as well as assorted local moves. Even though I am a pretty organized mover, we’ve always ended up decluttering both before and after, so that is great advice.

My advice is to start as early as possible–I’d start by going through the unopened boxes from the last move and sorting the wheat from the chaff. Next advice–do a little bit every day. In our last move (cross country which took place in two phases, since my husband moved a year before I did), I’d plan to come home from work every day and do one box. While that may not work for you, try to set a manageable goal of a couple/few boxes a day. Clean things as you pack them–it is SO nice to unpack things that are clean. And instead of newspapers, which mean anything coming out of them has to be cleaend, use linens for packing and invest in some clean newsprint (avaialble anywhere moving stuff is sold). It does not cost much and it makes it so much easier on the unpacking end (and you can then reuse it for shipping gifts, etc.). Try to pack by room and clearly mark what is what in the boxes, so you can unpack in a focused fashion; color code baoxes for rooms so they get to the right place in the beginning. Finally, make sure you have a box of the stuff you need first in the new place–tp, surface cleaner, shower curtain, towels, sheets–at the end of the first day, it is so nice to be able to get a shower, and climb into a freshly made bed.

One thing that I have done for my friends who tend to be more clutter-friendly is when they are preparing to move I will go over and sort through all their stuff with them, helping them to let go of the trash and to justify why they think they need all the “maybe” items. Do you (Katie) have anyone in your life who is very organized/minimalistic who could help you in this way? I know for me that I LOVE going through my friend’s stuff with them, and I get a total high out of turning chaos into peaceful organization. Just ask around and see if anyone in your life would be willing to take on a room or two with you in order to help.

First is, in my opinion, essential. When loading the moving van, have the movers put the boxes in first, then the furniture. Movers will fight you on this – but this is seriously the most important part of a move. When they unload, the furniture will come off the truck and slip neatly into place – the boxes come off after, and you can sit comfortably on your furniture and dive into a stack of boxes. If the furniture goes into the van first, the boxes will come out first. They will line the walls of your new space, while the furniture stacks in a pile in the middle of each room. You will look at the muddle and become overwhelmed, and it will take weeks and weeks to arrange furniture and unpack.

A second tip – a friend of mine decided it would take 40 hours to pack and declutter her apartment. She started 40 days ahead of the move, and allotted one hour per day. On weekends, she did several hours, and banked “time off” for later. Her assessment was dead-on, and by the time moving day approached, she was ready, by working in short amounts, never getting overwhelmed.

Very timely for me – I’ve just moved this week. Just into the new house, not yet unpacked, but I’m already finding myself well into a second round of uncluttering.

Since I’ve moved just a very short distance, I shifted most of the small/portable items myself in bags & small boxes, just left for the movers the furniture, books, and… whatever I ran out of steam to pack and carry myself. The result, from a clutter perspective — the things that are getting opened and dealt with first are either the things I use on a daily basis, or the stuff that wasn’t important enough to me to wrap and transport over the past 2 weeks, but which I couldn’t quite get rid of.

And now, when I have to consciously choose a place to put everything I unpack, a lot of that can’t-get-rid-of-it stuff is going to be got rid of. It just doesn’t make the cut any more.

(I’m even finding that some of the things I used to use or handle on a daily basis are not really necessary, and not truly loved. Esp. all the desk-cluttery things. They’ll sit in a staging area for a while, in case I decide I need them after all, but after that, it’s a one-way trip to Goodwill…)

These are some great tips! I especially like the one about printing your own labels and putting them on all sides of the boxes. And I love the idea of figuring out how many hours it will take ahead of time and allotting the time far enough in advance that you only have to work on it an hour a day.

For my last move, I bought a small roll of neon pink tape at the hardware store. I used that to wrap around the boxes that held my unpack-first things, such as important papers, a garbage bag, rolls of tp, bedding, towels, a change of clothes, and essential grooming/hygiene items — everything I’d need the first night and morning.

I used the tape in addition to the regular room/content labels. It was very easy to make sure those 3 or 4 “I need them the first night” boxes got loaded last, unloaded first, and were easy to find when I needed them.

I’m, essentially, half-way through the moving process. All my stuff is in storage awaiting the completion of my house. I hope to be able to move in within 10 days (fingers crossed!) My husband and I moved from California to Houston for a job assignment. I left for the job and he stayed behind to supervise the packing. I had very little time to de-clutter so most everything was packed.

In mid-2009 he moved to South Carolina to supervise the construction of our home. I closed our apartment, packed our stuff and had it moved to South Carolina. About half our stuff was moved from the apartment in Houston and about half had been in storage in Houston for three years.

In late January, a week before I was to join him in SC he died unexpectedly. So I retired, moved to an area where I knew no one, and had to finish our half-completed house. It’s been an adventure!

In addition to purging the stuff that’s been in storage, I’ll need to go through all of Frank’s belongings as I unpack. I do have a plan. I will have the furniture moved into the house (a la Kate’s suggestion) and all the boxes put into the garage. I will then go through each box, purging, purging, purging. So stuff I don’t intend to keep will never even enter the house.

I think, beyond the emotions of dealing with Frank’s stuff, the tough part will be disposing of the stuff I don’t need. I’m too far out in the country to make a yard sale practical. So charities will benefit big.

I plan to post a running report on my blog: XXX of YYY boxes processed. No, I don’t think this is a fascinating project others will be following with bated breath. Rather, posting it will keep me focused on the task, and motivate me get the project DONE soonest.

As far as birth certificates, social security cards, marriage licenses and passports go, one way to keep them from getting lost in the clutter is to put them in some kind of hard-to-loose-track-of container.

My husband and I use a small strongbox. (Purchased 40 years ago and in use ever since.)

For my older son, I purchased a simple red zippered case. It takes up very little room in a drawer or backpack or suitcase, and the red color makes it easy to spot.

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We are planning to move this summer, and just this afternoon I was in what was supposed to have been our “guest” room feeling overwhelmed by the piles of boxes that haven’t been touched from our last move two years ago, and some even un-opened from another move 3 years before that! It is very upsetting to me that I haven’t been able to get a handle on my clutter/junk situation and the longer the boxes sit the more overwhelming it seems to become.

It’s good to hear other folks have been in this situation and have succeeded to purge and simplify. For the folks that have done 1 hr/day chunks, any tips on how to stay focused and picking a box to get started with? I get easily distracted by small things as I’m decluttering and find myself jumping from box to box.

Good topic today. We moved one mile three weeks ago. While I can’t say I unpack 10 boxes a night (a one year old will put a stop to that real quick) I try to get a little done every night then marathon on the weekends. Fortunately my Mom drove down to help – she is the most organized person on the planet. But once she went home, I kind of lost my steam. I still have a few boxes here & there, but the main disaster is the bedroom. My theory is – we sleep there – we live in the rest of the house. If I can get through the last 4 boxes we’ll be done!
Thanks for the advice – I’ve decluttered twice this time too – gotten rid of tons!

WilliamB hit on a version of a trick I recommend regularly and it doesn’t require moving to put it into practice. Most insurance companies suggest that you make an inventory of what you have so that it can be replaced in case of a disaster — of course, this would be a monumental task for most cluttered people! I suggest instead that you pretend that you’re living in an empty house/apartment, then make an inventory of what you need. “Need” includes not just functional things, but also those items that give you pure joy. This goes hand-in-hand with Erin’s advice, and that of organizer Peter Walsh, to visualize the life you want to lead and make choices that facilitate that life.

My comment is about all those cardboard boxes and newsprint. Be sure to unpack the boxes, break them down and take it out of the house. Get those boxes into the recycling center ASAP. Cardboard boxes and stacks of paper draw bugs, mice, snakes! Cockroaches love the cardboard “hallways” in a box and you don’t want bugs in your house or stacks of boxes becoming mice beds and snake lares. You don’t want to transport bugs from your old house, or pick up bugs in the moving van, or drawing bugs in the new house. This motivated me to unpack as quickly as possible and to keep the boxes broken down and in the garage. Then we got rid of the boxes on a near daily basis at the recycling center. When we were through our pest control company did a good initial spray (initial treatment is more expensive but then the quarterly is reasonable) and we have them on contract for quarterly sprays. I don’t use cardboard boxes to store things in my house either. I use plastic boxes for storage, even in my attic and garage.

One simple yet powerful tool: as Erin said, use mostly smaller boxes. Pack them in order of usefulness (in the kitchen, the fancy china and decor went in first, serving dishes and cook books were next, pots and pans went the day before the move, everyday utensils went at the last moment). Label the numbers with the room name and number: kitchen 1 for the most un-used kitchen stuff, kitchen 2 for the next box, and so on. I started unpacking with the highest number box, decluttering as I go. Bonus: for the first few days, before everything is unpacked, I enjoyed a bare-bones truly decluttered kitchen so I got a taste of it and know how I would want things to be. Taking some time to unpack the last boxes gave me time to reconsider some of the stuff.

I’m preparing my condo for sale and have moved about 3/4 of our stuff into a storage bin. I LOVE the tape kit from Uhaul – it’s much better than trying to write or label on all sides of a box. One wrap of tape that says ‘kitchen’ and you’re done. I also got the fragile tape, and their newsprint. For less than $30, I got a lot of sanity. Also, most moving & storage places take the boxes back – so don’t recycle if you can return ’em.

I decluttered 6 months ago to get ready, and am doing it again as I pack. Unpacking, I plan to just set up the essentials and take my time carefully choosing what to let into my new home. It’s the decisions that take time, not the physical act, and I find that I’m able to get rid of a lot more if I move slowly. And I love having less stuff to take care of.

I recently moved overseas and so everything I kept was going to cost me money either to ship over or to put in storage. Having these restrictions helped me declutter to an extent I’d never managed before. I really and truly examined everything. Often more than once. This takes a lot of time and energy, but it’s worth it in the end.

The first wave is to go through your clutter hotspots (for me this was clothes, books, and kitchen stuff) and get rid of everything you don’t like, don’t use, or is duplicated unnecessarily. Then, you do it again a few weeks later (the time is crucial), and in addition to the previous criteria, you add “can I live without it?”. This last question is much more subjective and it’s easy to weasel out of getting rid of things if you’re not sufficiently motivated to truly reduce to your minimum. Keep your goals in mind, and be really honest with yourself about how much value the item adds to your life.

Do NOT move boxes that you haven’t opened. I’m not saying get rid of them, but DO open them and go through them. I discovered a ridiculous quantity of total junk that had managed to live in the backs of cupboards because I moved it the last time without really LOOKING at everything.

There’s really no magic trick to de-cluttering for a move other than to remember that nothing should get a free ride. Look at absolutely every little thing and decide if it will fit with your new home.

this is a very appropriate subject for me, as I’ve just moved house. I ended up with belongings not just at a storage unit while I was building my new home, (which ended up taking over a year!), but also at my parent’s garage, her friend’s garage, then my boyfriend’s garage. wow, last night was the final move.
I truly uncluttered before my things got sent to the storage unit, though now I’ve started to do it again. I seem to be quite ruthless this time, as I too, have ‘got a taste for it’, and am very much enjoying living with less.
I also seem to be living with the ‘i can like it and not keep it’ idea, last night i gave away a piece of furniture which i purchases specifically for my last house, which does not fit with the theme of this one. that was a surprise, as i loved it when i bought it. in the end, i decided to give it away for free, instead of selling it, as someone was quite excited by it, and i truly did not want it. strangely enough, i felt so much better about not accepting any money for it, as if the money somehow keep a part of it with me.
now i have the awful job of going through everything. my guest bedroom is full from wall to wall with boxes that need sorting. i decided to keep my garage as empty as possible so that i can use it as a space for painting a few pieces that can still work here, however with a new colour.
during this last year, my parents and i have parted ways, as i’ve been doing some emotional uncluttering too, and it became painfully obvious that things have never been good, and quite toxic if i’m honest, so now i am free to really try to live the kind of life i want to.
wish me luck!! my 7yr old daughter and i absolutely love our new space.

I would like to echo the thought that you should not think of this as moving all your stuff and getting rid of a few things but rather think of it as a fresh start with no belongings.

Then go “shopping” in your current apartment looking only for those items that you really want and need in your new place. Get rid of all the rest. Especially for non-functional items, ask yourself if you would purchase them now, and if not, sell, give away, donate, recycle, or trash them.

Whatever you do, do NOT make the mistake of taking stuff to your new place that you do not really want and need thinking you will get rid of it later.

I moved from Seattle to the Midwest about a year ago. I was lucky enough to have about a year to plan. I started by selling off things I knew I wouldn’t want to move (furniture, books, movies, etc). I put all the money I earned aside to buy new things after the move. I kept asking – would I put this item in my dream house? Is this the best thing I can imagine owning? It made it much easier to get rid of used tables, old towels, and a bunch of old textbooks. I kept things I could reasonably see using during or after the move. I also moved my stuff in a small pod – so I knew I was limited in how much I could take. I ended up not even filling the pod, but I have yet to regret leaving anything behind. I also set up a new donation box that I’ve filled a few times as I’ve unpacked and set up house. Despite your best efforts there are always a few “what was I thinking???” moments when you do your unpacking!

As a result of a separation and pending divorce, the marital home had to be sold, so I moved locally about 3 weeks ago. Since I had to spend most of my time fixing up the house to get the best price, I didn’t have much time to unclutter and discard before I moved, unfortunately.

The one thing I did that I would recommend would only work with local moves. I asked several friends to keep specific things/boxes for me: one kept my china and glassware, one a couple of antique kerosene lamps, and I spread my houseplants around among a number of people. I was fortunate enought to be able to bring a few valued and valuable things into my office. That way I knew they were safe and not lost (or broken) in the confusion. I have retrieved almost everything except my plants (have no comparable place to keep them, so I need a little more time to figure out where they will go.

As the original question asker, I want to thank you all SO much for the helfpul hints and tips. Just reading Erin’s response helped to calm me down about the process — I CAN do this!! All of your comments are much appreciated and I like the idea of looking at this move as an opportunity to create the life we want for ourselves instead of bringing things along just because we have them. I will try to keep you posted on our progress via the forums. Thanks again — you have NO idea how much this has helped!

regarding focus, might I suggest taking one box out of the storage space and into a different room, and working through it there? Then you can’t be tempted to dive into another box when you hit a roadblock in assessing the contents of the current box. Keep a trash bag handy, and a bag for paper to recycle.

I find working in front of the TV is kind of soothing. And if you work while watching a design show or “Hoarders” it can be motivating! 🙂

William suggested using newsprint instead of newspaper, and I agree. The last time we moved,we used newsprint. After we unpacked, I smoothed most most of it back out and piled it up. I kept a small portion for my projects and passed the rest of it off to friends with small children and to the Sunday School teachers at church. They all loved having large pieces of paper for coloring and no one minded the remaining wrinkles.

When I was at the stage in my life where semi-regular apartment moves happened, I instituted a “2 move” rule for boxes. If I moved an unopened box twice, I had to seriously ask why I was keeping that stuff, it if was not good enough to come out of the box at a new place. If I was saving it for a “Better” place, when would I be moving to this better place? Never threw any away unopened, and also managed to bring out some nice stuff that I was saving instead of using.

We moved last December and the experience was dreadful. We tried to declutter, but dealing with leaving our home of 35+ years was emotional enough and we didn’t have the emotional or physical energy to deal adequately with purging things that were ours, our children’s, and our grandparents’. We still have lots of stuff and lots of unopened and not well labeled boxes. it’s draining us.

I talked with my husband last weekend about the “Red Velvet Rope Test”. That led us to a major attitude adjustment for both of us. We also talked about “things that belonged to _____ (insert anyone’s name whose stuff we are hanging onto). I told him that I like my kitchen, but the only thing I’m really emotionally attached to is a set of heart shaped measuring spoons that he gave me. I would hate to think that our children or grandchildren would someday be burdened with items from our kitchen that we deeply appreciate (such as the KitchenAid mixer) but have no attachment to. The first mixer gave out after 25 years, and this second one may eventually give out, too. We did try to have the first one repaired, but parts were no longer available and we had no problem moving on to its replacement. I imagine that we have things that were functional but not special to their original owners.

He decided to give up his grandfather’s victorla, which he had wanted since he was a child and has had for more than 30 years after his grandfather’s death. He was enchanted with it when he was little, but it’s a pain to use and sounds awful. I think he played it 3 times since we received it. He said he would sell it in our garage sale, but I did convince him to tell his father that he no longer wanted it and his father could take it or find it a new home with another relative. This was to be liberating for us and there was no need to deal with angry parents. Our son decided he would like to have it, but he will receive no grief from us if he wants to sell it after his grandfather is gone. I have some pieces that I will offer back to my mother and tell her I will sell them if she doesn’t want them and he has others to offer back to his parents. These are things that our grown children have declined to take. I think this is the safest method for those of us who have parents who would not deal well upon hearing that we had sold, given away to non immediate family, or trashed “grandma’s whatever”.

We have too much for many reasons and just one method hasn’t worked for us. We appreciate your generosity in sharing a variety of methods to adjust our attitudes and eliminate what we don’t need and is not blessing our lives. Thank you.

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